Purdue introduces Startup Class of 2014
October 7, 2014
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Lokesh Gupta, from left, and Anurag Garg of Bearing Analytics survey locations to install the company's sensors that monitor industrial rotating systems. Bearing Analytics is one of more than 20 startups created in fiscal year 2014 from Purdue University innovations. (Purdue Research Foundation photo) |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Officials of the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization announce the 24 startups that comprise the "Class of 2014." These are companies whose primary technology is based on a licensed Purdue University innovation.
By comparison, Purdue had eight startups in the 2013 fiscal year. In addition, there are over 20 other significant startups created in the 2014 fiscal year that are based on Purdue know-how or student-owned intellectual property not included in the list of new companies.
"Purdue University is internationally recognized as one of the most prolific research institutions in the world, and what we are witnessing is the sheer ingenuity and dedication of the university's outstanding innovators and the support we have received from our surrounding community," said Dan Hasler, president of the Purdue Research Foundation. "With this Startup Class of 2014 we have taken many of the first steps to establish Purdue and the Greater Lafayette area as a hotbed of entrepreneurial opportunity."
The growth trend for the 2014 fiscal year is reflected also in other substantive increases in commercialization activities through Purdue's Office of Technology Commercialization, including 156 U.S.- and global-issued patents, representing a more than 30 percent increase over the previous year; and 120 licensing deals of Purdue intellectual property with startups and established companies, for an increase of more than 20 percent over the prior year. The office also reported 272 invention disclosures, 471 global patent applications filed and royalty income of nearly $7 million, all of which is returned to the inventing faculty and Purdue University.
The startups also helped bring more than $20 million in additional funding to Indiana for the 2014 fiscal year through SBIR grants, investments, venture funding and research collaborations.
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Rodolfo Pinal, left, and Andrew Otte of Biokorf work on their process to create prefabricated drug dosages for compounding pharmacists. Biokorf is one of more than 20 startups created in fiscal year 2014 from Purdue University innovations. (Purdue Research Foundation photo) |
Unless noted otherwise, startups listed below are located in the Greater Lafayette Area. Videos or websites about the startups can be viewed by clicking their names. The startups for FY14 are:
Animated Dynamics Inc., a life sciences firm providing live-tissue imaging technology to improve biodynamic imaging in healthcare.
Aten Biotherapeutics LLC, a life sciences company developing MRI agents that could make imaging sessions longer and safer.
Battle Ground Technologies LLC, an information technology company working on electronic security.
Bearing Analytics Inc., an industrial technology firm that could predict rotating machinery failure.
Biokorf LLC, a pharmaceutical company creating prefabricated drug dosages that support patient-centric medicine treatments.
BlueVine Graphene Industries Inc., an engineering company developing graphene petal structures for biosensors and energy storage.
CPrecisely Inc., a computer technology firm whose technology could make digital text and images on computer screens easier to see.
Drug Free Therapeutix LLC, a biomedical engineering company that improves customization times for neural stimulation treatments.
Energy Driven Technologies LLC, a nanotechnology company developing surface treatment products to achieve better mechanical properties.
FORSUGO Hi-Cell Inc., a Marrero, Louisiana-based company developing a nuclear detection system for low-cost detectors.
Frontier Additive Manufacturing LLC, a Crawfordsville, Indiana-based company producing 3-D printing at the molecular level for advanced manufacturing.
KinaSense LLC, a life sciences firm developing diagnostic and treatment methods for cancer patients.
Mobile Enerlytics LLC, a software company developing a technology to increase smartphone battery life and reduce energy usage of smartphone apps.
Nano-Meta Technologies Inc., an electrical and computer engineering company developing nanomaterials and improved nanophotonics.
NEMOco LLC, an electrical and computer engineering company doing nanoscale transistor modeling to optimize transistor design prior to fabrication.
Neuro Vigor LLC, a life sciences company developing a technology to reduce symptoms and pain of neurological disease and injury, including MS, neuropathic pain and Parkinson's disease.
Sagamore-Adams Laboratories LLC, a Chicago-based company developing neutron detection systems for use in defense energy, industrial, commercial and residential applications.
SensorHound LLC, a software and services startup developing specialized software and services to improve the reliability and reduce the cost of networked embedded systems.
SPEAK MODalities LLC, a software company offering iPAD applications to help children and families dealing with non-verbal autism improve communications and further develop language skills.
SpeechVive Inc., a company developing a product to help those with Parkinson's disease speak louder and more clearly.
Spero Energy Inc., a company creating specialized chemicals for the flavor and fragrance industry and improving biofuel production.
Symic Biomedical Inc., a San Francisco-based biomedical company developing tissue scaffold technology to target tissues that could become vascular.
Vibronix Inc., a life sciences company developing an advanced imaging solution for heart disease diagnosis, treatment guidance and therapeutics development.
ZeroUI Inc., a software development company using hands-free 3-D modeling software.
Several other promising startups launched by students and not counted in the list include: Coffee Coals Inc., a startup producing and selling briquettes for outdoor grilling; Signature Settings Inc., a startup that customizes disposable dinnerware for parties and special events; Mimir LLC, a startup that uses a cloud-based classroom for computing courses; Vendo, a startup developing an app to buy and sell merchandise on college campuses; and FundSponge, a startup that helps nonprofits, student organizations and other groups raise funds through online purchases that their members or supporters already make.
"It's been a great year for startups, and there is much momentum from Purdue innovators that sets the stage for a long trend-line for Purdue-driven Indiana commerce," Hasler said. "We are in full swing for 2015."
Purdue also received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year, the highest distinction offered by the National Business Incubation Association, for its work in developing a culture of innovation and commercialization and for its long-term commitment to fostering startups through multiple programs to help entrepreneurs. Those programs include the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship to help Purdue faculty, staff and students commercialize their innovations; Artisan Fabrication Lab, where prototypes can be built; and Purdue Research Park, which is the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country.
Additional entrepreneurial resources include the express license to expedite the technology transfer process, $12 million Foundry Investment Fund, Deliberate Innovation for Faculty program and the Purdue Innovator Startup Guide. For more information about all the resources available for innovators, visit Purdue Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
About Purdue Research Foundation
The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on Purdue innovations, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org
Writer: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 588-3340, casequin@prf.org
Source: Dan Hasler, (765) 588-3475, djhasler@prf.org
